22.

Pub Grub: Yes or No

Everyone loves to eat out, to indulge themselves on something delicious.
But some pubs have been claiming that they’re changing, that they’re healthy and suitable for any diet.

I am not one to believe this.
To me, pub food is and will always be stodgy, and something to eat when you need cheering up.

There are always ways to make your meal healthier when you’re eating out; some are listed below thanks to NHS Change4Life:

•         Try swapping fried rice for steamed rice, or fried noodles for boiled noodles. You could take this one step further and go for steamed dished on the menu containing vegetables, chicken or fish.
•         Dishes made of tomato or vegetable sauces usually contain less fat than ones with creamy sauces. Try swapping your usual curry for a madras or tandoori dish when you’re eating out.
•         When you’re having pizza, swap your usual cheese stuffed crust with a thin, crispy crust instead and choose lower fat toppings such as chicken, prawns and vegetables.
•         When picking a starter, change your usual fried starter like prawn toasts for something like soup. Soup will contain less fat and will fill you up, which means you’re less likely to eat your entire main course.
•         If you usually have an alcoholic drink with your meal, choose the smaller size! This way you will most likely drink less, which means less calories, and you might save a few pennies too.
•         If you’re eating out, some restaurants offer free refills of fizzy drinks with your meal. This makes it easier for you and your children to consume more calories and more grams of sugar. Try asking for a jug of water on the table instead of refills, this is free too!
•         You don’t always have to miss out on your favourite take-aways. When you really are craving good grub, swap for the ‘low fat’ option.

To explore the Pub world further I spoke to Simon Pick, the owner of the pub, The Plough, Littlethorpe.  I asked him all about his food and the health industry, our conversation goes as follows:

“Do you think that your food is healthy?”
Simon replied: “I think it is. You can always improve things, but we always try and get things like sour cream, all of our dips, low fat.
“I don’t think that when people come here for a meal they generally think about the health aspects of the food, they just want to come out and stodge."

I asked: “Has anything changed in the industry recently?”
He said: “The industry has become a lot tougher, and no one makes as much money as they would do, it is very competitive.
“Everyone has to have an angle to get customers in, our angle is that everything is home cooked, we don’t buy any of our meals in, this means that we can get away with charging slightly more for our meals.

“There has also been a legislation change in allergens. On our menu’s we now have to state that if you do have an allergy, you can ask and we will tell you whether our food contains it.
“We don’t all have to know what every meal contains but we must be able to find out. That is the only thing that has changed massively, the most prominent thing.”

I also asked: “I know that schools have had to be governed, they have had to change salt content and include vegetables in every meal. Has anything like that changed in the pubs?”

Simon replied: “We are not governed like in schools. However, we do get customers asking to put no salt on their chips. Because everything is homemade, we can change how much salt is in our cooking.

“Because every batch of our food is different, the pies for example, one may have a little bit more salt in than another. So a customer may come in one time, have a pie, and say it has too much salt in, and then come in another and say it is perfect.
“Salt content is something that we are very much aware of and we can also advise about.”

My last question was: “Is the food market in pubs really competitive around here?”
Simon said: “Around here, it is very competitive. Every pub or eatery has a different angle. Ours is that all of our food is homemade.
“The Narborough Arms is cheap and cheerful; you get what you pay for. The Dovecote is higher end than other pubs in this area, and is more of a dining experience and they do charge a little more than the rest of us. And finally the last one is Spice 45 and that’s completely different as it is a curry house.

“We have recently had to put our prices up because of the competition around the area. This is the first time we have had to do it in 18 months.”

If you do want to go out for healthy food, there are healthier options that you can pick. However, if you are on a health kick, then steer clear of the pubs. Yes, go out and enjoy yourself as much as you can, however, if you do want to tone your body and lose some weight, the pub is not the way to go.

http://www.nhs.uk/change4life

20.

Depression

 So, I'm going to talk about this openly and honestly.
Everyone with this illness will be able to relate to what I'm saying.

• Not everyone with depression self harms.
• Sometimes you won't even know when a person has depression because they hide it so well.
• Depression is NOT only dictated by life circumstances - someone may have everything and still have the illness.
• Not all people that have depression take medication - treatment is not one size fits all.
• Depression is a real illness, when someone feels low, they might not think it's real, they might get laughed at or someone might not believe them. Everyone needs to realise that it is a damaging and sometimes life threatening illness.  

What others need to realise is that they will never understand how it feels to have a low, to have an anxiety attack, or to feel really isolated. Some people tell me to "Think Positive." but really, that is like saying positive thoughts could help a man with blood sugar.
We need to start treating this as a real illness, and a serious condition.
 
When I first felt the flames of depression tickle my toes, I kept it to myself. I didn't want anyone to know, I felt ashamed.
Now I can confirm that it made my condition worse, it made it to progress into even more mental illnesses.
I suffered with Anxiety, Depression, and Anorexia. 

I felt like I didn't deserve to eat, I didn't deserve anything, that was because of the depression.
And then, I had to take three weeks off of college, missing out on critical information on exams, and as a result I moved college.

I believe that everything happens for a reason and so I won't say that it was a bad move because I love what I'm doing now.

For me, what helped was doctors.
At first, I was scared, I didn't want to admit or tell anyone, and I didn't know what the doctors would do to me when I told them.
But they do really understand. As soon as I heard my doctors sympathetic voice telling me that she could help me, a weight was off of my shoulders.
She gave me medication, which has been increased and decreased over the years.
I believe this is the reason that I can talk about depression openly now. Depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain, and so the medication balanced it out for me.
This is not to say that it works for everyone!

Presently, what I find helps is venting all of my emotions to someone, preferably a family member. Getting everything out, whether crying, shouting or just talking helps to get it out. Also, they might be able to help?

Furthermore, my boyfriend is a massive help right now, in that he helps me see what I've got. He takes a step back with me, and looks at my whole life, what I've been through and where I am now. 
I appreciate that.

My family have been my absolute rock throughout these two years.
 

18.

FMP.

I'm currently writing a whole magazine on health and fitness for my final project at college.
So, I thought I'd give you a little taster of my article about The Race For Life:

How did we train?

We all wanted to train together as we were all running for the same cause. We trained twice a week, as a group, and once a week on our own.

In the group sessions, we would stretch thoroughly and then start our session, starting fairly easy at the start of the year. For instance one week we would run for 30 seconds and then walk for 45, repeating the cycle for 30 minutes.

We would run or jog slowly all together, never leaving anyone behind, to help our bodies adjust to the training.

In the training sessions on our own we would work at our own pace trying to improve on our personal fitness.

We would each track our progress by using apps on our phone. The two I would highly recommend are: “Nike Running” and “Run keeper” these can be found on any smartphone.

These apps would tell us how far we have ran and at what pace. This is very handy as if you are going slower than you wish, you can up your speed as it talks to you whilst you’re running!

We did have to buy some running gear. My advice for this would be: don’t go for the expensive stuff if you’re not serious. The branded clothing and workout gear will last you longer and does the job a lot better, but if you think you’re going to quit then don’t commit!

To start with, you will need to buy some leggings/shorts, and a sports bra. These are the basics; you can put an old top or jumper over your bra and go!

Obviously you will need some trainers, make sure that they fit perfectly, to small and you will hurt your toes and feet, too big and you won’t be able to run without tripping over! If you’re not sure, get a shop assistant to help you.

Advice for training:

·        If you haven’t ran before then I suggest that you find a plan online or from a gym, this will give you a starting block. This way, you will be able to start to build up your fitness without hurting yourself.

·        I also advise that you have a running buddy, whether this be a friend, a pet or just your music, it is very helpful to have something there to take your mind off of what you are doing.

·        If you are using music then I suggest that you create a playlist. Because if you’re anything like me then you will be flicking through songs instead of running!

·        Run in the mornings; get an early start, this will almost trick your mind into what your body is doing. In addition to this, you will get the best weather, not too hot neither too cold.

·        The most important tip is to get your breathing down. Make sure you’re not panting throughout; this will mean you can’t run as long. I wouldn’t try to talk or even sing whilst you’re running; this will seriously affect your distance.

My Complete Idol

12.

Happy Days

So proud of myself.

When I applied for the race for life my aim was to complete the race in 25 minutes.

Today, I ran 5.5KM in 31 minutes, which is about 3/4 minutes off my target. I am so happy.

A break from running and from positivity did make me stronger. Additionally I had a rest day yesterday, so no exercise apart from walking around college from 8-5. 

I can't express how happy I am for myself.

Apart from doubts in my mind which I think will never go away, I actually think I will be able to complete this, with all my friends and family around me I am happier than ever.

My aim now is to stop burdening myself with everyone else's problems, I need to relax and be a little selfish now.

11.

Only Upward Spirals

After having a long week of downward spirals, it was my worst yet, I would like to say that I am now feeling positive again, but that's not entirely true.

I was at my lowest last week, being alone in the house, having nothing to do, just made me over think everything.

Life.

Why am I here?

Last week I made some terrible choices, and I hope I never get that low again, that I have to repeat that.

I have been running and eating as usual but just couldn't bring myself to share my experiences with the whole world just yet.

I am getting better, but I would say that I am 100% right now.

I will be blogging regularly again.

Hopefully this downward spiral will just make me stronger.

10.

6.12"

Getting my time down today has given me an amazing push. I ran alot further 6.15KM and I still managed to get my time down, as I ran it in 38:10 Minutes which I am very proud of.

Yes, my boyfriend did let me down and said that he didn't want to run with me today and so I went on my own as usual.

Unusually warm today I went out in shorts which was a massive step for me, yes I might go clubbing in town in a little mini dress, but there I don't stand out. But running in shorts, everyone stares at my legs while I run, feeling self conscious I went anyway.

While people stared at first I thought: "Why did I do this to myself, why did I put myself out there, with flabby legs and scattering hair?"

But then I thought: "I have to do this sometime, and its a good way to get my confidence up. 

YOU CAN STARE ALL YOU WANT BUT ARE YOU DOING EXERCISE?"

I'm feeling a lot better in myself today and therefore have eaten more than yesterday, but still being healthy. 

But if I burnt 400 calories running, surly I can treat myself later? 

9.

4.83KM

After a very boring five hour shift this morning, I decided to cheer myself up by going on a run in the summer sun!
I ran 4.83KM, on my usual route I did it in 30:40 Minutes which is reasonably good since I didn't stop once on the way around, however, it was no personal best for me. I NEED TO IMPROVE, and fast!
Running 6:18 Minutes per KM isn't bad but I would like it to be better.
Tomorrow I will be running with my boyfriend, now, he has never ran before and therefore it won't be a personal best either.
On Friday it will be a rest day and therefore I wont be doing anything, which I am glad about.
On Saturday I will be running with my mum again and it still won't be a personal best.
On Monday, it will be the start of my new running plan. Not long distance but short - Under 5KM, but with a shorter time per KM. 

Running today made me feel amazing, free and almost liberated and therefore I feel very refreshed and positive about myself.
However eating only, cheerios at 6.30AM this morning, a breakfast bar at 2.00PM and two ryvita's at around 4.00PM I know that this is not enough but I am afraid to eat anymore for feeling bloated and fat.
My mind will never be the same after being diagnosed with anorexia however hopefully I will get better, and hopefully soon, because I am feeling the same as before.
Hopefully I don't go back down that road.

Inspiration